England's Football League is canvassing clubs twice a week if their players have symptoms of the coronavirus or are self-isolating as it tries to build up a picture of footballers’ health ahead of a possible return to action.
Professional football in England is suspended until April 30, though it is widely expected a further delay will be announced, but in the meantime the EFL is attempting to establish which clubs have a clean bill of health.
Clubs have to fill in a questionnaire every Monday and Friday, noting which players believe they might be suffering from the Covid-19 virus and which are taking precautions because family members have the disease.
So far, a senior figure at one Championship club believes no player in the division has contracted coronavirus, though five players at League One Portsmouth have tested positive for it.
Championship clubs have been unanimous in their belief that the season must be completed, not least because those near the top of the division stand to receive at least £100 million (Dh455m) in broadcast revenues alone if they get promotion to the Premier League. The theory that the top flight could just promote Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion and have 22 teams next season has not been discussed by the governing bodies.
While the Football League’s television deal is nowhere near as lucrative as its Premier League equivalent, it is worth £119m a season, including £150,000 a Championship game to the clubs involved. Sky Sports have exclusive broadcast rights to the three divisions in the United Kingdom but so far they have not put pressure on the EFL to restart the leagues.
One option to compress the fixture list and help finish the season would be to reduce the play-off semi-finals to one leg which would make sense if crowds are not permitted and home advantage becomes less advantageous.
Several Championship clubs have agreed temporary pay cuts or wage deferrals at a time when their income has been reduced.
In 2017-18, Championship clubs’ overall expenditure of wages, of £748m, was higher than their combined turnover, of £701m and 23 of the 24 clubs made a loss.
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Major European clubs imposing pay cuts
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A figure at one club where pay cuts had not yet been discussed feels it is “an inevitability” they will happen elsewhere.
Another club was adamant they neither want or need wage deferrals at the moment, with their owner willing to fund salaries at the moment.
The players and coaches of Leeds agreed to wage deferrals to protect the jobs of the non-playing staff but sources elsewhere pointed out United, who have a £40m annual wage bill, could not afford to pay them without the income from matches.
Birmingham players earning more than £6,000 a week have been asked to defer half their wages for the next four months while senior management at League One Bolton have taken a pay cut and League Two Mansfield have attempted to put their players on furlough.
However, the longer discussions continue about completing the season, the less likely clubs are to get rid of off-field staff who may be required.
The precarious finances of many Football League clubs mean the existence of some has been threatened by coronavirus, with gate receipts forming a far higher percentage of their income.
Salaries were on the agenda at a meeting between Premier League and EFL clubs and the Professional Footballers’ Association, with the PFA expected to resist cuts in salaries and to object to a blanket deferral of wages.
PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor told the Daily Mail this week: "There is no need to make a cut if the season is completed."
Many clubs are expected to disagree.
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
Schedule:
Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles
The biog
Favourite Emirati dish: Fish machboos
Favourite spice: Cumin
Family: mother, three sisters, three brothers and a two-year-old daughter
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Neymar's bio
Total club appearances 411
Total goals scored 241
Appearances for Barca 186
Goals scored for Barca 105
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Abu Dhabi racecard
5pm: Maiden (Purebred Arabians); Dh80,000; 1,400m.
5.30pm: Maiden (PA); Dh80,00; 1,400m.
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA); Group 3; Dh500,000; 1,600m.
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (Thoroughbred); Listed; Dh380,000; 1,600m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA); Dh70,000; 1,400m.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA); Dh80,000; 1,600m
Friday's schedule at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 qualifying, 10:15am
Formula 2, practice 11:30am
Formula 1, first practice, 1pm
GP3 qualifying session, 3.10pm
Formula 1 second practice, 5pm
Formula 2 qualifying, 7pm
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
